Interfaces and Devices for In-Situ Interactions and Collaboration

 

| About the Event.

Technology intervention in serious applications such as disability management, age care, physical rehabilitation, and well-being can significantly improve the quality of life for many people. Despite the growing need, adherence to these technologies is still low. Research finds that a major factor of technology abandonment is the poor fit between the user’s needs and the system’s capabilities. This is not a surprise considering the challenges faced by people in these application areas manifest in dramatically different ways in individuals, and change over time and with the context.

This talk explores an approach to creating and operating interactive interfaces collaboratively to fit the needs and situations of the users. The specific research explored methods for understanding and modelling user activities, co-designing with users and utilising novel fabrication technologies and augmented and virtual reality methods to create new interactive interfaces fit for the user and the context.

| Speaker Biography.

Anusha Withana is an ARD DECRA fellow and a senior lecturer (Asst. Prof.) at the School of Computer Science, the University of Sydney where he leads the AID-LAB. He received his Masters and Ph.D. from Keio University, Japan. He was a postdoc at Max Planck Institute for Informatics and Saarland University before joining the University of Sydney. He works in the research field of human-computer interaction (HCI), mainly focusing on creating personalized enabling technologies, where technology blends and harmonizes with users and the environment leveraging on natural affordances of the context. His research work has been published in top-tier HCI conferences and journals such as ACM SIGCHI/UIST. He has won numerous awards including the Most Innovative Engineers in Australia Award 2020, and his research has been featured in leading media outlets such as CNN, Discovery TV, SBS, Straits Times, Gizmodo, and Engadget.